Saranya Ponvannan (born April 1970), also known as Sheela Christina Raj, is a popular South Indian film actress who has predominantly appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam language films and a few Kannada language films. Saranya made her debut in a lead role in Mani Ratnam's Nayakan (1987) and went on to play lead roles from 1987-1996. Following an eight-year sabbatical, she returned to films as a character actor, specializing in "mother of the hero" roles.
Saranya is the daughter of Malayalam film director A. B. Raj who directed over 75 films. She married actor-director Ponvannan in 1995, and the couple have two daughters.
